Two miners are missing after being abducted by suspected al-Shabaab militants in Mandera County, deepening concerns over insecurity in the region. The attack occurred near a quarry in the Shimbir area on June 18, around 1 pm, and involved four armed men who had been hiding in the bush around Chachabole.
According to police and eyewitness accounts, six loaders were aboard a lorry heading to a work site when the assailants emerged from hiding and launched the ambush. Four of the workers, who are locals, managed to escape unharmed. However, two others, identified as non-local workers John Kambua and Martin Musyoki, were seized by the attackers and taken to an undisclosed location.
Security forces have launched a search operation to rescue the missing workers. The abduction is being treated as a high-priority case due to the involvement of suspected militants and the history of similar incidents in the region.
The kidnapping occurred just two days after the gruesome killing of a miner at a separate quarry in the Quramadhoo area near Elwak. The victim, 40-year-old Naftali Wanjohi, was found dead with severe injuries including a fractured skull, deep cuts, and a severed ear. Authorities believe the attack was carried out by a local militia, but the motive remains unclear.
These incidents reflect a troubling pattern of targeted violence against quarry workers, particularly non-locals, in Mandera County. In a similar attack on April 29, four non-local quarry workers were shot dead in Bur Abor Village, Mandera East. Militants, believed to be affiliated with al-Shabaab, ambushed their vehicle after using stones to block the road. Thirteen other passengers managed to flee into nearby bushes and were later accounted for.
At that time, security forces recovered 39 empty cartridges of 7.62mm special rounds and two live bullets from the scene, indicating the level of firepower used in the attack. The vehicle’s driver and co-driver were detained for failing to transport security personnel as required, which could have helped prevent the fatalities.
The ongoing insecurity has forced quarry workers, especially those from outside the region, to adopt safety measures, such as sleeping in Mandera town and commuting daily to work under guarded conditions. However, even these precautions have not fully deterred the attacks.
The region lies close to the porous Kenya-Somalia border, making it vulnerable to infiltration by armed militants. A multi-agency security operation is ongoing in Mandera County to root out these threats. Authorities say the crackdown has helped reduce the frequency of such attacks, but the recent incidents suggest that more robust measures may be needed to ensure the safety of all workers in the area.
